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26/3/2003

Art deco

Victoria & Albert Museum, London

1910 - 1939

A major exhibition at the V&A celebrating Art Deco, the most glamorous and popular style of the twentieth century.
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Jophine Baker and her Cheetah

Josephine Baker, international star of sensational, exotic cabarets including La Revue Nègre, and the infamous Folies Bergère in Paris and Berlin, was born on 3 June 1906 in St Louis, Missouri. During their short-lived marriage her parents had a song and dance act; her mother being known for ability to 'do the cakewalk', dancing along a chalk-line with a glass of water balanced on her head and never spilling a drop. Josephine's father, Eddie Carson, was a drummer who played in bands in saloons, vaudeville houses and brothels.

Josephine Baker was only one year old when her parents introduced her into the finale of their stage act. By the age of 14, with a huge repertoire of steps, she began her career in the chorus line of the Booker T. Washington Theatre, St. Louis. By 1925, aged 19, Josephine Baker was shimmying and dancing the Charleston in La Revue Nègre, in Paris, bowing her legs and crossing her eyes at the same time as 'scatting' to the music.

Throughout her life, Josephine Baker adored and was constantly surrounded by menageries of animals. She had learned early in her poor childhood to be mistrustful of people, and began her lifelong habit of showering affection on animals by befriending and sharing her food with Three Legs, the crippled dog of her unkind employer. Her dancing was described by reviewers in animal terms; she was a kangaroo, a panther, a monkey, a tropical bird. In fact, she claimed she learned to dance by watching the kangaroos in St. Louis Zoo. This might have been true as many of the black dances of the day were based on imitating animal movement, such as the turkey trot, the kangaroo dip, the bunny hug and the rooster strut.

In sharp contrast to the hardships of her early life, by 1925 Josephine Baker had her own nightclub, Chez Josephine, in Paris. Here she shared her dressing room with a goat called Toutoute. In the club kitchen lived her pig, Albert, whom Josephine doused with the Worth perfume Je Reviens. Albert thrived on the kitchen scraps and there was a time when the kitchen doorway had to be broken down to get him out.

Most famously, Josephine Baker was joined in her act at the Casino de Paris by a cheetah, Chiquita, a gift from Henri Varna, the club's owner. Varna's idea was that the cheetah would complement perfectly Josephine's image; half exotic, untamed creature; half elegant beauty and sophistication. Josephine adored Chiquita, buying him a diamond choker and taking him everywhere with her. Pepito, Josephine's lover and manager, did not go along with her delight in Chiquita, who shared their bed, car and holidays.

Diana Vreeland, famous editor of Harper's Bazaar and Vogue in the 1930's, has a wonderful anecdote about Josephine and Chiquita. One very hot July, Diana Vreeland had gone to a Montmartre film theatre to see a film, L'Atlantique, about lost Foreign Legion soldiers in a desert oasis. The delirious soldiers dreamed of the beautiful Queen of the Lost Continent who was surrounded by a fountain of champagne with basking cheetahs. When the lights went up in the theatre, Diana Vreeland was shocked and delighted to find she was sitting next to Chiquita. Josephine had brought the beautiful animal for an outing to see the cheetahs in the film. Outside the hot theatre, an enormous white and silver Rolls Royce was waiting for Josephine Baker and Chiquita. Diana Vreeland describes how the driver opened the car door, Josephine let go of the cheetah's lead, Chiquita whooped and took one elongated leap into the back of the Rolls Royce, with Josephine Baker in her couture Vionnet dress leaping in behind. And then they were off with such speed and style; together the very zeitgeist of the Deco years.
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Strand Palace

Oliver Bernard: partial reconstruction of the foyer of the Strand Palace Hotel, London. Glass, marble, metallic mount and fixtures. 1930-1. V&A: Circ.758-1969. Plate 20.13.

Designed by Oliver P. Bernard. British, 1930. Victoria & Albert Museum.

Few Art Deco buildings were more glamorous than the luxury hotel. In England, Claridges, the Savoy and the brand new Dorchester all had sumptuous Art Deco interiors. But Oliver P. Bernard's designs for the Strand Palace made this one of the most celebrated hotel interiors in London.

Bernard had worked as a set-designer in theatre and opera, in Britain and the USA. This experience clearly influenced his work at the Strand Palace. The foyer combined traditional and new materials and made innovative use of glass and lighting. The walls were clad with pale pink marble and the floor with limestone. The balustrades, columns and door surrounds were made of translucent moulded glass, chromed steel and mirror glass.

Bernard designed interiors for other London hotels and cafés, including the Lyons Corner Houses.

The foyer was removed from the Strand Palace Hotel in 1969 and, for the first time, is partially reconstructed here.
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More Art Deco to see at the V&A

Twentieth Century Study Gallery
(Galleries 103-106)
A Day Bed by Süe et MareA range of furniture and small objects including several Art Deco items. Highlights include a writing table, veneered in macassar ebony, designed by Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann in about 1925, and a large folding lacquered screen designed and made by Jean Dunand around 1920-1925. A Day Bed by Süe et Mare is notable for its Art Deco upholstery in a fabric called 'Sous Bois'.

The influence of French Art Deco on British design can be seen in several of the exhibits, for example in the dressing table, mirror and stool designed in the late 1920s by J E Johnson for Heal and Son. Johnson's use of exotic veneers was inspired by the work of Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann.

Twentieth Century Gallery (Gallery 74)
Including ceramics, graphic art, glass, silverware, sculpture, furniture, textiles, photography and radios.

There are further examples by French designer Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann including a round occasional table veneered in acacia wood, as well as some fine examples of British tubular steel furniture from Heal's.

Displays of textiles from the Art Deco period include work by Fortuny, Robert Bonfils and Betty Joel. There is also an armchair by French designer Andre Groult upholstered in fabric designed by Paul Follot in 1920.

Frank Lloyd Wright Gallery (Henry Cole Wing)
The complete office - desk, chairs, wall-panelling and lights - by America's greatest architect and designer, Frank Lloyd Wright, and made in 1935 for Edgar J. Kaufmann forms the centre piece of a display that also includes other major examples of his work in furniture, metalwork, ceramics, prints and stained-glass. This is the most important collection of his work on permanent display in Europe.
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Sculpture and Carvings (Gallery 64)
Including mainly small scale art deco ivories by British artists. A fine example of a larger piece is Primavera by Richard Garbe, 1926.

A selection of Art Deco bronze medals featuring figures are displayed with associated ceramics and glass.

Glass Gallery (Gallery 131)
Art Deco glass on display includes great examples by René Lalique and Maurice Marinot. Lalique is best known for his superb cast glass, with its opalescent and subtle coloured effects. Marinot handblown glass is rich with internal bubbles and spectacularly deep etching, making it almost sculptural.

French Art Deco is also represented by the sculptor Aristide Collotte, by Marcel Goupy, the Daum brothers and Decorchemont. From Sweden there are examples from the Orrefors factory, especially those designed by Simon Gate and Edward Hald and from the USA by the Steuben factory.

British Pottery (Gallery 137)
The work of Clarice Cliff, Susie Cooper and other British designers of the period can be seen in this gallery.

British Pottery - Clarice CliffBritish Pottery - Susie Cooper

The Whiteley Silver Galleries (Gallery 68)
Silver cocktail shakerThe gallery includes a case of Art Deco silverware including tea and coffee services designed by Jean Puiforcat. Two further cases explore modernism and silver between the wars and include cigarette cases and a cocktail shaker.

Textile Study Gallery (Gallery 100)
A selection of Art Deco textiles are framed and displayed in this gallery including:

Les Arums, a silk damask by Raoul Dufy for Bianchini-Ferier (Lyons, 1931), a Fortuny red velvet printed with metallic gold from 1929, as well designs by Minnie McLeish Frank Dobson and Rebecca Crompton.
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Visiting

V&A Opening Hours
10.00-17.45 daily
10.00-22.00 every Wednesday and the last Friday of the month (Late View events from 18.30). Exhibition closes five minutes before Museum closing. Last entry to the exhibition is at 17.20 (last ticket sold 17.15). Late View last entry to the exhibition is at 21.20 (last ticket sold 21.15).

Additional Evening Opening
There will be additional evening openings during Art Deco. The Museum will be open until 22.00 every Friday and Saturday from Friday 27 June until Saturday 19 July, and also on Sunday 20 July.

Exhibition Admission
Full £8. Senior citizens and full-time students £5.

Admission is free to children, under 18s, disabled people and up to two carers, ES40 holders, V&A Friends and Patrons, and NACF/ICOM/Museums Association cardholders.

Groups of 10 or more receive a 10% discount on admission.

A joint ticket is available for admission to Art Deco and Guy Bourdin (17 April-17 August 2002 in the V&A Contemporary Space). Full £10. Senior citizens and full-time students £6.

Advance Tickets
Advance booking is strongly recommended. Call 0870 906 3883 in the UK or +33 1 42 81 88 88 in France. Alternatively Book Online. A booking fee is payable on all pre-booked tickets. All pre-bookings are timed entry.

Educational Groups
Admission is free to school, college and university groups that book at least 10 days prior to the day of their visit. To make a booking, call the Educational Bookings Office on 020 7942 2197 or 020 7942 2184. All pre-bookings are timed entry.

Acoustiguideacoustiguide logo
The audio guide to the exhibition is provided by Acoustiguide. Rental Price: £3.50, concessions £3.00.

Corporate Events
Private viewings of the exhibition can be arranged through the Corporate Events Department on 020 7942 2644.

Buses: C1,14 and 74 stop outside the Cromwell Road entrance.

Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Road
London SW7 2RL
Tel: 020 7942 2000

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